Never Miss A Story.

Daily Edition

CNBC to End 'The Kudlow Report'

The longtime host will stay on as a senior contributor, though the cable news net's 7 p.m. hour is now wide open.

Larry Kudlow is calling it a day with his daily CNBC program.

The financial news network's most prominent host in the wake of Maria Bartiromo's November exit for Fox Business Network will stay on as a senior contributor, but his 7 p.m. hour is now up for grabs.

CNBC, which is crediting the decision to end The Kudlow Report as the 66-year-old's choice, is already looking for a time slot successor for when Kudlow ends its run later this month.

"Larry expressed his love of the network and personal pride in what had been accomplished on his program over the years but now wanted to slow down just a bit," read a note from network president Mark Hoffman to his staff.

Kudlow's departure from a regular role comes in a time of great flux for CNBC and for cable news' financial nets on the large. Still the top-rated over Bloomberg and Fox Business, CNBC's ratings shrink annually -- and its shifting its primetime focus to alternative programming.

The network recently saw its biggest ratings success in years with its off-net launch for ABC's Shark Tank. Repeats of the entrepreneurial competition are out-rating anything on the financial news nets -- and even beating CNN in primetime.

Also a columnist and radio host, Kudlow previously served as chief economist at Bear Stearns and as associate director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan administration